Trump told reporters on Saturday that he intended to withdraw the country from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), signed…

Trump told reporters on Saturday that he intended to withdraw the country from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), signed by the Soviet Union and United States in 1987 during the final years of the Cold War.

The Trump’s plans have raised the concerns of a renewed arms race between the two nations.

Trump said he was pulling out of the treaty because Russia has “been violating it for many years. ” US and NATO officials have long criticized Russia for testing a cruise missile that they say is banned under the accord.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday strongly denied Russia was in violation of the treaty.

He relayed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statement that it was the United States that “dilutes” the agreement by deploying anti-missile systems that can also be used to launch short or medium-range missiles.

“If you read President’s statements [Putin]he was saying that the breach in the INF treaty forces Russia to take measures to ensure its security. What does the INF breach mean?

“It means that the US does not only covertly but also directly begins to develop these systems. Om disse systemer er i udvikling, er handling fra andre lande påkrævet. In this case it is Russia, in order to restore the balance in this area, “Peskov told reporters.

” Russia is and has been devoted to the clauses of the agreement, and we think the intention of the US to withdraw is, Of course, about because such steps, if taken, can make the world a more dangerous place. “

The Cold War Agreement saw thousands of missiles with ranges between 300 and 3,400 miles destroyed, and banned the development and testing of such weapons .

Russia agrees treaty has problems

Suggestions of a new arms race between the US and Russia have been brewing over the past two years, since Russia deployed a cruise missile in what US officials said was an INF treaty violation.

Putin in March used a concept video of unlimited range nuclear warheads apparently raining down on Florida to tout his country’s new firepower. Moscow also threatened to shoot down US missiles in Syria, and Trump responded to Twitter with threats of ” nice and new and smart! “” US missiles.

But both countries may have something to gain by this agreement. Withdrawing from the treaty zou toelaten de VS te ontwikkelen een raket vergelijkbaar met dat Rusland heeft getest.

Conversely, the announcement could also allow Russia to blame the United States for the treaty’s demise, while pursuing an arsenal of nuclear missiles more freely.

The two countries also share some grievances over the treaty. Trump on Saturday cited China’s missile arsenal as another reason for scrapping the accord, a concern that Peskov echoed in his remarks Monday.

“There are still problems around this treaty and the President has said that in the past,” Peskov said, referring to Putin.

“Right now, it’s not very productive to read the tea leaves.” We are waiting for official explanations from our American colleagues, “he told Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti.

Gorbachev urges treaty’s preservation

Former leader of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev, who signed the treaty in 1987 with then-US President Ronald Reagan, criticized Trump’s plan as “unacceptable” and “very irresponsible,” RIA Novosti reported.

” It was a great victory that we managed to get as far as making decisions andshrined in these … treaties that got rid of nuclear weapons and warheads, “Gorbachev said.

Trump, who has withdrawn the US from several international agreements, made the announcement ahead of US National Security Adviser John Bolton’s Visit to Moscow. Bolton with his counterpart, Nikolai Patrushev, on Monday.

Gorbachev expressed hope that Moscow and Washington could still reach an agreement to preserve the INF treaty.

“I do not know whether they will succeed or not, but I think it’s not too late yet,” he said.